


Gentle hands, hidden songs

by Sternenstaub



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Injury, Fluff, Hurt Eskel (The Witcher), Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Eskel (The Witcher), M/M, Potions, Toxicity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:42:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29289273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sternenstaub/pseuds/Sternenstaub
Summary: Eskel went on a hunt and took more potions than he should have, he´s just glad Jaskier can´t see him in such a state. Surely the bard would be scared.Of course, Eskel has been wrong before.
Relationships: Eskel/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 20
Kudos: 146
Collections: The Witcher Flash Fic Challenge #015





	Gentle hands, hidden songs

**Author's Note:**

> written for the flashfic challenge, so I blame all typos and grammar mistakes to the time constraints.

„ **Witcher wanted!**

**Reward!**

**There is a monster nest in the woods. 200 Gold for any witcher or upstanding human who slays the monsters and brings proof to the mayor!** “ 

Eskel had taken the contract while shaking his head, these humans really put less and less information on their notice boards. After some research Eskel found out the monsters were in fact endrega who preyed upon the hunters in the woods. Their nest must be close to the hunting grounds. Within a day he found a cave with many footprints around them and saw some endrega warriors patrolling around it.

The witcher managed to sneak into the cave during the day, when the sun was highest and the insect-like monsters dizzy from heat, and set the eggs and queen on fire, thankful his igni was stronger than that of most witchers. He burned them down before any of the swarm had even noticed his intrusion. The nest had been much bigger than the mayor had told him, even with the additional 50% he usually estimated, knowing people liked to make their monsters seem smaller to pay less. There were still many more than expected, the nest was one of the biggest Eskel had encountered in years. Deep in a cave in the woods, right where the best hunting grounds met a lake, they had grown and been undeterred from humans for so long that Eskel did not know if he could walk out of this in one piece should they notice him. 

Of course they did.

The eggs were burning, the stench of sulfur and burned flesh making Eskel`s eyes tear up, when an endrega warrior spotted the fire and the witcher who was responsible. With a shriek it attacked and soon Eskel was surrounded. It felt like hours until he reached the exit of the cave and sweat and endrega entrails covered him. He had lost count of how many potions he'd downed during the fight, surely a swallow or two, a wolf to keep up his pace and probably a golden oriole to counter the poison of their tails. Over and over again a new wave attacked him until he could see the light. The toxicity in his body made his blood boil and Eskel could feel the dark veins moving on his face. 

„Get off of me, you fucking snapper!“ Eskel swore and kicked yet another endrega away who tried to stab into his stomach. Their sharp pincers and tail trying to find his weak points, to kill him and possibly lay eggs into his corpse. There were dozens of warriors, trying to protect the nest and their queen, uncaring about the fact that said queen was dead and gone. 

With a mighty igni and a few added kicks and hits with his sword, Eskel finally managed to get rid of the last warrior. He heaved a deep breath and looked at the carnage around him. There must have been at least 50 endrega in that cave. 

His armor was torn in several places, the warriors had hit him a few times and he could feel his blood flow sluggishly out of the wounds. The potions in his body were already repairing the damage but were not strong enough to heal him.

Eskel stumbled back to the camp he'd made, thankful Jaskier had not accompanied him to this fight and was safe and warm in the town that hired him. Playing at the inn for their rooms and a new doublet. If the bard had seen him like this, jittery and high on toxins, eyes black and dark veins moving under his skin, surely he'd run away. 

Eskel still couldn`t believe this not quite human bard had decided to follow him and feared for the day he'd have enough and walk away. A Witcher’s life was gross and dangerous, not suited to poetry and song. When Eskel had told Jaskier as such, a week after this strange bard had come into his life, Jaskier had told him to stop badmouthing himself and his brethren and walked onward. 

Since then Eskel had not been alone for a prolonged time and he didn't miss it. Coming back into a town or to their camp put a smile on his face. Jaskier had become a close friend and they had a mutually beneficial arrangement. Eskel would talk about his hunts and Jaskier made sure Eskel was paid properly and not thrown out of towns anymore. Not as often at least.

Soon Eskel noticed himself thinking of the bard whenever they separated, dreaming about bright blue eyes and a voice enhanced a tiny bit by magic that smelled like salt and wind. He did not know when he stopped thinking about his scars and how they deformed his smile when Jaskier was around, only that the bard made him happy and had never stared at him in disgust. When Eskel had laughed loudly at one of Jaskier`s jokes for the first time, the bard had been ecstatic.

But the way Eskel looked now, bloody and full of gore, surely Jaskier would look at him and walk away, the joy and kindness in those blue eyes would be replaced by disgust and fear. It was the true reason Eskel never allowed Jaskier to accompany him to bigger hunts, promising the bard to tell him all the details instead.

When he finally reached his camp, it was dark already and he felt blood still running down his leg, the endrega had gotten him bad and the wound refused to close. His overactive senses felt every drop running down his skin and he could smell the copper mixed with sour toxins in his bloodstream. Eskel knew his witcher stamina, enhanced by a wolf potion, wouldn't keep him on his legs for much longer.

The path through the woods made a small turn and Eskel stumbled along when he saw light flicker in the woods. There was a campfire happily greeting him where he'd put his things and next to it sat Jaskier, polishing his lute. The bard looked up when Eskel stumbled into the light. Bright blue eyes greeted the witcher with a wide smile that died quickly as Jaskier took in the sight of Eskel.

The witcher prepared himself for the shock and horror that always came when people saw him in such a state, he just hoped his eyes weren’t tinted black anymore, they had stopped itching some time ago, which usually meant the toxicity was receding.

Instead of disgust Jaskier mostly showed surprise, he stared at Eskel with wide eyes and opened his mouth before closing it again with a snap. Slowly he stood up, hesitating for a moment, until he put the lute aside hurriedly but neatly, and walked towards the wound witcher. This was new, usually people didn`t willingly approach him while he was bleeding and looking half rabid.

„Eskel! Are you hurt?!“ Jaskier asked, walking closer to the witcher who stood frozen in surprise. Maybe if he didn't move too fast Jaskier wouldn't get scared after all. 

Of course when he tried to take a small step forward and tell Jaskier it looked worse than it was, he stumbled over his own legs, the hurt one giving out under him now that his mind told him he was safe and didn't have to go on anymore. With a small cry of pain he couldn’t fully swallow, Eskel fell down. Instead of landing face first on the hard ground as he expected, he was met by surprisingly strong arms and the smell of honey and pine surrounded him, drowning out the copper and sour poison.

„I got you, dear heart, I got you.“ Jaskier muttered, so quiet Eskel probably wasn't supposed to hear it, he thought. The bard quite often forgot how powerful witcher hearing was. The arms around Eskel`s shoulder and waist felt like the only thing tethering the witcher to reality, his over sensitive skin felt the warmth with every fiber and Eskel felt like he could drown in the sweet smell of honey, pine and home. With a gentle embrace Jaskier led Eskel to the fire and helped him sit down. It wasn't an easy task, Eskel had quite a few pounds more than the bard without his armor on, fully armored he must have weighed almost twice as much and the two swords on his back weren't light as well. But Jasker managed to help him to a bedroll to Eskel`s surprise. The bedroll also wasn’t his own but the bard`s and for a moment Eskel felt bad for putting blood and gore all over it. But his legs refused to keep him up for a moment longer.

With a groan, he sat down and Jaskier crouched next to him, looking at Eskel with a concerned expression. 

„How can I help?“ he simply asked, no dramatic gestures, no shouting or screaming, no hint of fear or disgust at the sight in front of him. Eskel didn`t know how he deserved such friendship.

The witcher tried to smile at Jaskier but barely managed more than a pained grimace. Jaskier`s eyes looked even more concerned and he put a warm hand on Eskel`s arm. The witcher felt the hairs on his body stand up at the gesture.

„It's okay to ask for help. I’m here.“ Jaskier whispered. The warmth of the hand on his arm burned through the thin strips of armor that were left there and could be felt to Eskel`s bones. He craved more of that, wanted to feel and smell and taste the kindness in front of him, the gentle eyes and beautiful smile. 

He stared at Jaskier for a moment, lost in all the feelings and sensations he couldn’t filter with so many potions in his body until he remembered he’d been asked a question. It took him all his remaining willpower not to pull Jaskier closer and kiss him.

„We need to check my leg.“ Eskel looked at the torn armor there and the blood flowing down. Jaskier helped him cut away the remains of his trousers on the left leg without a moment of hesitation. The cuts and bites were still bleeding, his wounds would need another dose of swallow. The red bottle was sitting in his travel bags, an emergency ration for worst case scenarios, brewed extra strong. But Eskel hesitated, his toxicity would skyrocket again, Jaskier would see his eyes turn black and his skin ashen and Eskel would have an even harder time acting human and not like a mindless beast driven by instinct.

He hesitated for a moment but in the end keeping a bard around who didn't accept him for who he was wasn’t worth dying over. Eskel had been alone for most of his life on the path and while it would hurt, he'd survive being alone again. He prodded at the wound and saw blood and black ichor ooze out of it. Jaskier looked paler than before and decidedly uncomfortable but didn't back away. Eskel felt his body crash down after the fight, the heightened endurance was wearing off and he had about five minutes before he would be unconscious.

„In my bags, round, red potion bottle.“ he grit his teeth, trying to keep his body up and work through all the things he’d have to do before his body lost the fight against the bone deep tiredness he felt.

Jaskier jumped up and sprinted to Eskel`s bags faster than the witcher would have thought possible. After some rummaging, he turned around with the red bottle, as big as his fist, glowing even redder in the firelight.

When Jaskier offered the bottle, Eskel hesitated for one last time. 

„My face, it’ll change, more so than usual. And I might act a bit strange and fall asleep very soon after, that means my body is healing.“

„I'll keep watch.“ the bard said with a soft voice and took Eskel`s hand to push the bottle into it. „Get better and don’t worry about a thing.“ A calloused hand caressed Eskel`s cheek and it felt like electricity was surging through him, tingling right under his skin. Before Eskel even knew, he was pushing into the contact, looking for more friction and warmth in those kind, gentle hands.

Jasker smiled at him, eyes a bit unsure but his hand steady, „Drink that potion,“ he whispered. 

Eskel downed the potion and felt his metabolism speed up, his heart pumping faster and blood thickening, working to repair the damage over time. But he also felt his face tingle and eyes itch, he knew he must make a terrifying picture. Breathing heavily and with his unnatural face that screamed predator.

Jaskier was still sitting in front of him, holding Eskel`s hand in his. The bard's bright blue eyes were wide in surprise and his mouth stood open, but Eskel`s enhanced senses, picking up even more information than usual, now that his brain was too preoccupied to filter them out, couldn’t smell a hint of fear. Only the same strong, reassuring smell of honey and pine and something thick and heavy that got stronger the longer Jaskier looked at him.

Jaskier touched his face reverently, “Does it hurt?” Eskel couldn´t talk, too overcome with sensations, but shook his head once, he didn't want the bard to worry. Jaskier stared at him some more until he sat down next to Eskel, who was leaning heavily on the bard now. A warm arm wrapped around the hurt witcher again and pulled him gently closer until Eskel´s cheek rested on Jaskier´s shoulder. Without a thought, eskel wrapped both of his arms around JAskier´s middle, snuggling even closer. The bard held his breath in surprise for a moment but before Eskel could even realize what he had done, JAskier already chuckled and caressed the witcher´s hair gently. His fingers felt like the best thing in the whole world in that moment and Eskel could barely believe someone would be so gentle to someone who looked so very horrible.

A warm hand brushed his cheek again and Jaskier pulled Eskel down to the bedroll, „Sleep, dear heart. I`ll watch over you.“

Eskel crashed hard and fast. When he woke up, he could hear Jaskier humm a tune he was working on and felt his cheek rest on something warm and soft. His brain still felt fuzzy and sleep addled when a hand caressed through his hair. 

Jaskier hummed and murmured snippets of lyrics for his new song, brushing small circles on Eskel`s back with one hand.

„...and that's why I love you…“ the bard whispered, slightly out of tune and it didn't truly fit the rest of the song Eskel had heard so far. Unbeknown to Jaskier that the witcher lying on his thigh was awake, the bard hummed further and caressed Eskel with gentle fingers. The witcher almost felt like choking on the sudden feeling rising in his chest. He hoped that one day they could share these three words eye to eye and from their hearts.But for now he was exactly where he wanted to be.


End file.
